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Review of Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Assassin

Book Blurb: FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.

Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past . . . and his future.

Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one. . . .

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Rating: Four Stars – would recommend

Similar Authors: Patrick Rothfuss, Brent Weeks

Review: Let me start by saying that I loved the Farseer Trilogy. The way that Robin Hobb developed Fitz in those books was so authentic, so heartbreaking. And her character development is no less stunning in Fool’s Assassin, but I think that’s what most of this book is centered on. Hobb introduces a new character, but I won’t divulge who it is since she’s a plot twist. This new character is given her own POV and Hobb puts a painstaking amount of this novel toward making readers care for this character. Since at least half of the novel leaves Fitz’s voice and gives us this new character instead, you know from the beginning that she’s going to be central to this new trilogy. But, I’ll leave that thought there. (As River Song would say, “Spoilers!”)

I had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. On the one hand, I love character-driven stories, particularly where there is a strong female character coming into her own. And I got that here. The voice of the new character is fascinating and I was pulled into her narrative on the first page. Middle-aged Fitz was also engaging and his troubles were so very real as Hobb lured you into his daily life. But on the other hand, I need action and adventure. The action in this book didn’t really pick up until the last fourth of it, and while I enjoyed the beautiful writing style and character development, I think I needed more of the Catalyst in this book. Not much, but a little more than family squabbles to move the pace along.

My need for a little more action aside, I am enthralled with this new trilogy and I am so happy to have reckless Fitz back on my shelf. If the cliffhanger ending is any indication, the sequel to this book should be action packed. I can’t wait!